“Getting to the Root”: Ayahuasca Ceremony Leaders’ Perspectives on Eating Disorders

ABSTRACT

Given the mortality, chronicity, and treatment drop-out rates observed among individuals with eating disorders (EDs), innovative approaches are needed. Ayahuasca, a psychedelic plant medicine from the Amazon, is currently being investigated. This study expands on prior exploratory research by describing the perspectives of ayahuasca ceremony leaders regarding their conceptualizations of EDs and the potential therapeutic mechanisms of action of ayahuasca for individuals with EDs. Qualitative content analysis of interviews with 15 ayahuasca ceremony leaders produced two main categories, with relevant subcategories. The first category encompassed the leaders’ theories of EDs from a shamanic perspective, including that EDs are symptomatic of an underlying concern, serve a function and affect health in multiple domains. The second category described leaders’ perspectives on the potential mechanisms of action of ayahuasca for EDs, including that ayahuasca facilitates “energetic healing”; helps identify, process, and integrate the “root” of the ED; promotes holistic healing; and enhances and/or reorganizes relationships. From the perspectives of ceremony leaders and consistent with previous exploratory research, ceremonial ayahuasca use may offer a potentially useful, novel and complementary intervention for EDs.

KEYWORDS:

• Eating disorders
• ayahuasca
• plant medicine
• psychedelic therapy
• qualitative research

Acknowledgments

We extend our deep gratitude to the ayahuasca ceremony leaders for their participation in this study. We also thank Kenneth Tupper, Jenna Fletcher, Marika Renelli, and Samantha Retrosi for their contributions to this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2022.2113484

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of this article. There are no competing interests to declare.